Former Scotland international Brendon Lindsay building off-field knowledge in new role as Rugby League Gold Coast league manager
A playing career that featured international, NRL and Intrust Super Cup honours taught Brendon Lindsay more than a few things about rugby league - but he is determined to build his knowledge in another area as Rugby League Gold Coast manager.
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A PLAYING career that featured international, NRL and Intrust Super Cup honours taught Brendon Lindsay more than a few things about the game of rugby league.
But the 42-year-old says building his knowledge from the other side of the fence is now priority number one as the new league manager of Rugby League Gold Coast.
After five years as the Ipswich Jets’ development manager and four as manager for Ipswich Rugby League, Lindsay stepped into the RLGC post vacated by Scott Dunshea at the governing body’s AGM in November.
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His off-field work follows a successful on-field career in which he represented Scotland six times, played four NRL games for the Gold Coast Chargers in 1998 and registered almost 100 appearances for the Jets in the ISC.
While those experiences were invaluable, Lindsay said he had since made a conscious effort to gain more insight into the roles of the volunteers who remain the lifeblood of the game.
“Playing gave me a real good understanding of the pathway football and what it is to be a coach and a player. (But) in the last 3-4 years in the (IRL) role I’ve now really learnt a hell of a lot on the other side, what it means to be a volunteer and what volunteers go through,” Lindsay, who also spent three seasons with UK club Sheffield Eagles, said.
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“I can go in with a good understanding of the player but I’ve really learned what our community rugby league challenges are from a volunteer perspective. That’s my focus at the moment, working out ways to better support our volunteers.
“The clubs are passionate, the board led by Pete (Daley) are probably the most stable board in our region for a while now. I’m really enjoying working with the board and getting to know the clubs and presidents and volunteers and working out how I can support.”
With Dunshea seconded to Rugby League Brisbane, Lindsay said he would get a feel for the local footy landscape before putting his own stamp on things.
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“I think the key for me this off-season is to be as consistent as possible with how Scott and the board in previous years have made decisions and based their reasoning on decisions. That’s how I wanted to attack things initially,” he said.
“I’d like to take the six to 12 months to get a good feel for what and if I need to make any changes. I’m taking my time.”
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